SIZE AND DIVERSITY OF FARM 829 



In Livingston County, N. Y., the investment per acre in machinery 

 ranged from $3.18 on large farms to $7.05 on small ones. In the United 

 States as a whole, according to the census for 1900, the investment in 

 machinery per acre on improved land ranged from $1.31 on farms ranging 

 from 500 to 1000 acres each to $7.50 on farms ranging from three to 

 nine acres each. 



Size Economizes on Man and Horse Labor. — A comparison shows 

 that the number of acres farmed per horse varies greatly with the size of 

 farm. It will vary also with the type of farming, and a satisfactory 

 comparison of efficiency can be made only when comparing farms of differ- 

 ent size devoted to the same type of farming. Iowa is all devoted to general 

 farming. The farms of Lyon County in the northwestern part of the state 

 average 210 acres, and those in Henry County in the southeastern part of 

 the state, 123 acres. In Lyon County there are 22 acres of crops per horse; 

 in Henry County only 11 acres of crops per horse. 



In Tompkins County, N. Y., on 586 farms operated by owners, the 

 acres per horse ranged from 15 on farms of 30 acres or less to 49 on farms 

 of over 200 acres. In most parts of the country it costs as much to keep a 

 team of horses as it does to employ a hired man. Three or four horses is 

 the smallest number that can be most economically employed in the use of 

 machinery best adapted to the production of general farm crops. To em- 

 ploy a smaller number increases the cost of production, or to employ this 

 number for too small a percentage of the time also increases the cost of 

 production. 



The same principles apply in the employment of man labor, especially 

 in so far as this labor is associated with the use of horses and implements. 



There are many farm operations that are more advantageously per- 

 formed by two men working together than by one man. Among these may 

 be mentioned the harvesting of grain and hay. In hauling these products 

 from field to stack or barn, one man is required to pitch and the other to 

 load, stack or mow the product. Very often, odd tasks such as changing 

 of wagon racks and boxes are much more quickly and easily done by two 

 men than by one. 



Size Related to Crop Yields. — Small farms do not necessarily produce 

 larger yields per acre than large farms. Farms in the two Iowa counties 

 above referred to gave yields of the staple crops that were almost identical. 

 In Tompkins County, N. Y., 586 farms show practically the same yield 

 per acre of staple crops on large farms as on small ones. In one product 

 only, namely, hay, did there seem to be any consistent decline in yield with 

 increase in acreage. The average yield of hay was 1.38 tons per acre on 

 farms of 30 acres or less, and 1.24 tons per acre on farms of 150 acres or 

 more. Yield per acre will depend more upon the character of soil and 

 value of land and the intensity of farming, than upon the size of farms.* 



*The figures given for Livingston and Tompkins counties, New York, are from Warren's FavrtX 

 Management. 



